Apple and Intel clean up their act


Apple and Intel have promised to stop using conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo thanks to the Conflict-Free Smelter program. According to an article from Switched (which I found through HuffingtonPost):

Beginning next year, all U.S. companies will be required by law to disclose their mineral supplies and identify any purchases that may be linked to the Congo conflict. By agreeing to the Conflict-Free Smelter program, though, Apple and Intel have effectively given themselves a head-start, which could help mitigate future controversy.

It’s great that this information will be made public and I can only hope that other companies will do the same as Apple and Intel and that the information given will be completely true.

Read my Take the conflict out of electronics and out of your hands post to find out more about conflict minerals and what you can do to help stop the war in Congo. Also, TreeHugger has a great slideshow explaining the process of conflict minerals in images that’s worth checking out. If you click on the image above, you’ll be taken to a PDF file from Enough Project that shows the impact conflict minerals has on women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

(Image clickable straight to source: EnoughProject.org)

Comments

kimbirdy
5 April 2011 - 9:05 pm

oh wow, i had no idea about this conflict. thank you so much for keeping us informed on these sorts of things. i really like to choose products/companies which i can support morally, but i don’t always know what’s going on behind the scenes. hopefully, with huge companies like apple and intel, the reality of what’s happening in the world will become public knowledge in more ways.

Misty :)
6 April 2011 - 3:17 am

Wow, for some reason I hadn’t read the previous post about the Conflict Minerals. I had no idea something like that would be linked to electronics. But I am really glad to see that Apple and Intel are agreeing to not use those minerals!! That is definitely a head start. And who knows, maybe since they are one of the bigger companies other companies will think they should do it as well!! We can only hope!!

Eva
6 April 2011 - 12:26 pm

Kimbirdy – I, too, always wonder about the behind story of my purchases and now that this information will be made public, that decision should be much easier to make. I just wonder why they didn’t do this years ago!

Misty – Apple and Intel are doing this now because they don’t want all of their information about their suppliers from the DRC to be known… pretty much they’re coming clean now as to not taint their image and have everyone know just where they’ve been getting their minerals from. I really do hope all companies in the US follow suit, but unfortunately… the article states that now Asia will be getting more of these minerals for their products. Just when you win one battle, another one starts…

Sana
7 April 2011 - 2:37 am

Eva, such an informative post. Apple, who would have thought. Thank you for bringing the news. Always a pleasure!

Brandi {not your average ordinary}
7 April 2011 - 10:02 pm

When I first learned about conflict materials, I couldn’t believe how many companies were using them. I’m really glad to hear such big companies like Apple and Intel are changing their ways — I hope more follow suit soon. It’s really important that we know where the products we buy came from. That transparency is vital in this day and age.





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